Gap: It just doesn't "get" me. - YouLookFab Forum

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Gap: It just doesn't "get" me.

Emily

Veteran

I had the day off today and took a spin out to the local mall to do some reconnaissance for spring. I stopped in at Gap and tried on some jeans, blazers, and a button down shirt. Blech. I don't know why it took me so long to realize that the Gap and I just don't get along when it comes to fitted, tailored pieces! Anything that needs to fit properly across the shoulders is too small in the shoulders or too big in the body. Jeans are always big in the waist and suctioned to my legs. I still love gapfit tops and my two eversoft sweaters (oversized with drop shoulders), but everything else I've tried from them in the last year has been a bust. I always forget because I like their classic styles and they are so easy to order from!

Note to self: Quit ordering/pinning/pining for things from Gap!

Anyone else have a mainstream retailer that just doesn't work for them?

Shopping

21 replies

Latest reply was from whirlwindgirl

Sveta

(website)

Veteran

Zara and Club Monaco - both have good Canadian shipping policies and both are running too small for me in the shoulder area (I don't even try on their bottoms to perserve my self-esteem from disintegration).
Cleo - their stuff is cut for somebody who is bigger in the bust and midsection and smaller on the bottom. If I am to fit my hips into their dresses the top is at least 2 sizes too big!
I a sure there are more but this is what comes to mind now.

Gap and BR are actually a pretty good fit for me and the fact that they carry Tall sizes now is the icing on the cake!

kellygirl

Veteran

I think I have a Gap body because I generally like their stuff and it usually fits. I feel the way you do about Loft and BR so I can sympathize.

Mo

(website)

Veteran

Funny, Gap is now fitting more TTS on me. A few years back I had to size down in their cargo cords. Last month I got my regular size 4 in legging cords from them. Seems the fit is more in line with the actual size charts again. Or at least the few things I've received.
Not sure off hand who's stuff is frustrating me lately. Will have to think on that.

Karie

(website)

Veteran

Interesting about Gap - their clothes always fit me! I love the way their BF button down shirts fit, and the same thing goes with their blazers. And their jeans? My favorites!

For me, the fit of Zara's clothes can be a bit wonky at times. One size can be slightly too small, the next size way too big.

Laura (rhubarbgirl)

(website)

Veteran

Zara rarely works for me. H&M is often too short. Actually, a lot of places are too short or just off, proportionally. Not to mention the brands whose 12s and 14s are tiny or nonexistent. J. Crew has always been too boxy/rectangular for me. Anthro, everything runs too small/too short.

I am happy that those who have builds very different from mine can enjoy those retailers.

DonnaF

Veteran

A few years ago, I tried on a TON of BR buttoned shirts. None fit. IIRC, they gapped at the bust, were too tight in the arms, too high at the neck, and the sleeves were too long even though they were Petites. I recently ordered a BR denim shirt, and the fit is great or at least 9/10. The sleeves are a tad longer than I prefer, but a length that many Fabbers prefer. The shoulders and neck/collar fit great. The hips flare out a tiny bit, but I'm not sure that I would prefer a straighter cut. Maybe I had luck because of the looser fit?

Never found a BR dress to fit me.

The BR cream jeans that Angie and many other Fabbers love looked terrible on me. But the BR cream chinos look great!

I haven't tried Gap clothes much, other than Angie's tweed blazer and the Academy blazer that was so popular here a few years ago. In those cases, I think the problem was that the items did come in numbered sizes but instead in XS-S-M-L-XL, so I am between sizes. Actually, I am between a P2 and a P4, so I have that problem in a lot of places/manufacturers.

I've found that some of Nordstrom's in-house brands *get* my body. OTOH, how difficult is it to fit a t-shirt or a cami? Actually, I've also found fits in their pencil skirts and Halogen (but not Caslon!!!) shirts and Halogen blazers.

Sveta

(website)

Veteran

Oh and Forever 21! Their stuff never fits me as well so after a few attempts I don't even go in anymore!

Caro in Oz

Veteran

Most of our middle-priced chain stores don't get me - they cut their clothes for smaller busted & bigger hipped women - grrrr!!!!

Gigi

Veteran

Yes. Gap. :^)

And Free People is an absolute disaster too. I might as well just wrap myself up in a bolt of fabric from the fabric store. I'll get the same shapeless effect for less time and effort.

I've ordered quite a bit from Gap online, plus stopped in at the store a couple of times, and I've just decided not to bother anymore. Everything that is supposed to be tailored is boxy on me, and everything is just in the wrong spot. And everything in general is huge. The only thing I have from them that works is a slip.

DonnaF, I too have problems with Caslon. I ordered an XXS petite t-shirt from them, and it was huge! Off the list they go. Grr.

Anonymous

J. Crew. Meant for much taller, slimmer, more rectangular people than I'll ever be. And I can't do ironic preppy like they do sometimes. Any amount of preppy just looks awkward and wanna-be on me.

Adelfa

Veteran

Gap doesn't work for me either!

Anonymous

JCrew bottoms. Something about the rise and where the hip is placed is all wrong for me. LOFT, too short and generously cut. I look like I am wearing someone else's clothes.

BR is almost always spot on unfortunately I rarely get very excited about their clothes. Good for basics.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Land's End: I'm essentially sized out in most items.

Eddie Bauer: If I'm not sized out, the positioning is all wrong. And I am usually sized out anyway.

Ann Taylor: It's a rare item that fits properly. I do have a couple of shirts that work.

Loft: Ditto above.

Cleo: too big on top and in mid-section for me as a rule. I do own one Cleo dress that I made a tiny alteration to.

Gap can work for me reasonably well, but if the sizes are S/ M/ L I am usually sized out. My store does not stock XS so that means ordering to try, and it does not always work.

What works pretty reliably:

BR (but not the Monogram jackets, alas....everything is positioned wrong for me in those).

Zara (I size up from my usual US size and the fit is really good for me on most items.)

Club Monaco

J. Crew

I figure this is useful for anyone with a similar body type.

Sorry about your frustrating experience, Emily. It's really a pain.

catgirl

Veteran

Banana Republic and j. crew. Cut for slim rectangles and not apple-y ITs.

CocoLion

(website)

Veteran

Hmm, I think just about the only brand where I can make a generalization is Zara where the pants are cut for a straighter figure with a longer torso than mine.

I once read a Consumer Reports article comparing a pair of black pants across various brands. The higher priced brands generally had better fabric but most of all, better fit. They simply put more effort/time/money into the fit.The article explained that some companies will go through multiple fit revisions, whereas this will not happen with lower priced garments.

This is one of the reason I am such a premium denim addict. A great deal of effort is put into fit, and then there is tight control over the manufacturing at each step of the process.

DonnaF

Veteran

I am trying to figure out why certain lines/companies technically fit, but they just.look.dumpy.and.frumpy. on me. Lands End and Foxcroft I'm looking at you!!! Is it bigger armholes? Bigger cut waist? I have to remind myself not to be taken in by the pretty pictures with the pretty colors in the catalogs or online.

kkards

Veteran

i'm 50/50 at the gap, old navy almost never works, and BR almost always does---and they are all owned by the same company.

shiny

Veteran

I've never purchased anything at Zara, so that is top on my list. Their clothes just fit bizarrely on me.

White House/Black Market. Love the concept, love the clothes. None of it fits.

Club Monaco - though I suspect I might have a little luck there if I was persistent enough or didn't mind alterations. Fit is borderline for me.

Limited, Express -- can find things sometimes but it's rare.

If a choice between Lands End, Eddie Bauer and LL Bean, I'd choose either of the second two for quality and fit. Lands End petites just fit goofy on me, I guess you could say I'm sized out.

At this point, probably 50% of my closet is Ann Taylor, 30% is Banana Republic and 20% is "other." The "other" category includes anything under the sun, as I leave no stone unturned, except for the brands I listed earlier in this post.

It used to be that my closet was more BR than AT, but then AT switched things up a few years back, with fresh new designs, awesome colors, and refinements in their fit model that favored my figure. BR is still good for neutrals and basics; their non-neutral colors are just a bit of a snore for me. But I would say BR quality exceeds AT's, especially when it comes to suiting.

Una, I'm very surprised you can't find anything at BR! I'm shaped similar to you and I have good luck there, with the exception of dresses.

DonnaF

Veteran

So I am reading this thinking, "If it doesn't fit her, maybe it will fit me because we have very different body types," and "Maybe I shouldn't even bother with that place if so many things fit her!" But then I'm confounded because as Shiny said, places where she gets a fit should also fit AlaskaGirl because they have similar body types.

Dunno why, but I've learned that YLF lemming wear generally doesn't fit me. I'm still in search of my body double. . . .I think a fussy foot double may be easier to find!

Easiest to find: Other YLFers who buy or point out swoon-wear! So-o-o bad for the budget!!!

April

Veteran

My main frustration with Gap recently is the preponderance of low-rise jean styles (in-store, at least in my local store, that's all they have, though you can go online to find a smattering of mid-rise and the one High Rise Skinny style.)

So Gap, as long as that's true -- I'm out.

whirlwindgirl

I gave up on Gap for jeans long ago. They never fit. None of them. But I have big thighs and a small waist so jeans are hard for me to find. H&M pants are also a no-go for me. I won't even try them on anymore it's so bad. Eddie Bauer curvy fit jeans consistently work for me. Tops are relatively easy for me to find and I can find t-shirts and sweaters and even blouses and blazers that work nearly anywhere.